[One Week After Woods Joined]
Eridius set a fresh cup of coffee onto the counter before placing a small slice of cheesecake beside it.
The customer—a man in a green suit—nodded gratefully and returned to his conversation.
Business was thriving.
The café was packed.
People in green suits occupied several tables. A group in red argued loudly near the back. Yellow-clad visitors sat quietly in one corner, while a pair of exhausted blue-suited Fixers looked one bad day away from starting a civil war over coffee prices.
Eridius looked around the crowded café and smiled faintly.
Then the front door opened.
Ding.
Alexander stepped inside.
Covered in blood.
Not his own, judging by the amount.
Without hesitation, he walked behind the counter, donned an apron, washed his hands, and immediately began taking orders.
Not a single customer reacted.
At this point, everyone considered this normal.
[Eridius]: Hey, Alex. How was Fixer's work today?
He accepted an order from a customer before continuing.
[Alexander]: I was assigned to protect a man whom I also wanted to kill.
A pause.
[Alexander]: He possessed a remarkable talent for making everyone around him wish for his immediate death.
Eridius nodded.
[Eridius]: One of those clients.
He began preparing a coffee with the same concentration he normally used when fighting.
[Alexander]: By the end of the mission, even the receptionist at the Association office asked why I hadn't stabbed him during transport.
[Eridius]: That's usually a bad sign.
[Alexander]: It was.
A customer walked past.
[Customer]: Morning, Alex.
[Alexander]: Good morning.
The customer glanced at the blood covering his coat.
[Customer]: Rough day?
The customer nodded knowingly and continued walking.
Silence returned.
Then Eridius narrowed his eyes.
[Eridius]: Knowing you, you probably injected him with something horrible.
Alexander paused.
A beat.
Then—
[Alexander]: I injected him with something from W Corp.
Silence filled the café.
Eridius slowly lowered his coffee cup.
[Eridius]: You what?
[Alexander]: Nothing lethal.
A beat.
[Alexander]: In my defense, it was medically educational.
[Eridius]: That's not a defense.
[Alexander]: It is to me.
A customer at a nearby table slowly raised a hand.
[Customer]: Should I be concerned?
[Alexander]: Only if you're the man I was protecting.
The customer immediately lowered his hand.
[Customer]: Understandable. Carry on.
The customer looked around the table.
The others nodded immediately.
No objections.
No further questions.
Most of them were Fixers.
Some worked for Associations.
Others belonged to small Offices scattered throughout the district.
A few were independent.
All of them had spent enough time in the City to understand a simple truth—
If a Fixer wanted to stab their client, there was usually a reason.
[Customer 2]: Honestly, the fact he survived the entire assignment is impressive.
[Customer 3]: Last week, I had a client who tried to negotiate his own rescue fee while I was rescuing him.
[Customer 4]: Mine tried to sell me life insurance halfway through an ambush.
Everyone sitting around the table collectively nodded.
Reasonable experiences.
[Customer 1]: The City doesn't lack monsters.
Eridius smiled a little and looked around him.
[Eridius]: Hey, where is Woods
And at that, he was met with a banshee scream coming from the bathrooms.
[Woods]: The giant cockroaches are back!
A beat.
Then—
[Woods]: AND NOW THEY CAN FLY!
Without missing a beat, Eridius reached beneath the counter and pulled out a sword.
Around the café, chairs scraped loudly across the floor as customers instinctively stood.
Coffee cups were set aside.
Weapons were drawn.
Not a single person questioned it.
He raised the sword like a commander addressing veteran soldiers.
[Eridius]: Alright, everyone! You know the rules!
He pointed the sword toward the hallway.
[Eridius]: One cockroach killed earns you one free pretzel!
The response was immediate.
One exhausted Grade 8 Fixer slammed his fist onto the table.
[Fixer]: Finally! Dinner's on the bugs!
Another customer cracked his neck.
[Customer]: I skipped lunch for this.
A woman quietly pulled her sword out.
[Woman]: I want cinnamon sugar.
This wasn't a new occurrence.
Six days earlier, a swarm of failed bio-engineered cockroaches from G Corp had discovered the café.
For reasons that defied logic, science, and basic self-preservation...
They had developed an addiction.
Not to blood.
Not to flash.
Not even to garbage.
To coffee.
Real coffee.
Every few days, the creatures would launch what could only be described as a coordinated raid, breaking into the café in desperate pursuit of freshly brewed beans.
No one knew why.
No one wanted to know why.
Attempts to study them ended after the researcher was chased through three streets by what witnesses later described as "an extremely caffeinated swarm."
Ironically, the cockroaches became free advertising.
Word spread quickly through the Backstreets.
"There's a café whose coffee is so good even mutated G Corp abominations are willing to die for it."
Business had doubled within the week.
As for the pretzel reward...
No one questioned it anymore.
In the Backstreets, people had killed each other for far less than fresh bread after a twelve-hour shift.
And apparently...
People in the Backstreets would commit acts of unbelievable violence for a free pretzel.
Eridius sighed.
[Eridius]: ...I still don't know whether I accidentally opened a café...
He glanced toward the hallway where angry hissing echoed.
[Eridius]: ...or a pest-control company.
A blur shot across the room.
THUNK.
Three flying cockroaches were skewered in a single motion.
Alexander calmly lowered his flute, now being used far less as an instrument and far more as an oversized spear.
Three oversized insects twitched helplessly before sliding off onto the floor.
He adjusted his gloves.
Then looked toward Eridius.
[Alexander]: Come now, Leader.
A pause.
[Alexander]: We both know you enjoy these raids.
He neatly flicked another cockroach out of the air with the end of the flute.
THUNK.
[Alexander]: They award Commander Points.
A beat.
He glanced toward the growing pile of dead insects.
Then, with the same composed expression he used while serving tea—
Another cockroach flew straight at him.
Without even looking, he caught it out of the air and impaled it.
THUNK.
[Alexander]: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the pretzel.
Around them, exhausted Fixers and Office workers fought with frightening enthusiasm.
Not because the cockroaches were especially dangerous.
But because they had all finished work.
And nothing motivated a tired employee quite like free food.
Eridius watched the carnage for a moment.
Then sighed.
[Eridius]: ...I've somehow turned pest control into a customer loyalty program.
After the cleanup was finished and the free pretzels had been distributed, Eridius stepped behind the counter and opened his status screen.
His equipment appeared first.
[Equipment]
[Unbreakable Winter Coat & Pants]
[Urban Mask & Headphones]
[Phantom Gloves]
[Red Iron Greatsword]
Then his skills.
[Skills]
[Heavy Bones Lv.5]
[Blade Skills Lv.5]
[Lead Stomach Lv.6]
[Drug & Poison Resistance Lv.4]
[Iron Skin Lv.3]
[Nimble Lv.5]
[Strength Lv.5]
[Presence Concealment Lv.6]
[Mind Lv.5]
[Gourmet Cooking Lv.3]
[Brewing Master Lv.3]
[Management Lv.3]
[Cleaning Lv.5]
[Engineering Lv.3]
[Sealed]
[Spirit Lv.???]
[Deter###ination L$%$]
[N%tE: K—EP G01—]
[Genius]
[Commander Points]
Total: 1,745
[Supplies]
1,033
Alexander walked over, already wearing his coat and carrying his violin case across his shoulder.
[Alexander]: Are you ready, Leader?
Eridius closed the screen with a flick.
[Eridius]: Everything's ready, Alex.
He smiled faintly.
[Eridius]: Stop worrying.
[Eridius]: It's just a promotion mission.
[Eridius]: One successful assignment, and I become a Grade 8 Fixer.
Before Alexander could answer—
A chair scraped across the floor.
Woods stood up.
She looked unusually serious.
No jokes.
No sarcastic grin.
Just concern.
[Woods]: Boss...
She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
[Woods]: Do you... have to go?
Eridius blinked.
Woods sighed.
[Woods]: Look around.
She gestured toward the café.
Customers laughing.
Coffee brewing.
Music drifted softly through the room.
People are actually smiling.
[Woods]: We already have something people in the City spend their entire lives looking for—a place to come home to.
She looked down at her remaining hand.
[Woods]: Before I came here...
A quiet laugh escaped her.
[Woods]: The last time I ate fresh vegetables was five years ago.
Silence.
[Woods]: Back in S Nest.
Another pause.
[Woods]: I worked for almost a year just to afford one proper meal.
She looked toward the kitchen.
[Woods]: Now...
A small smile appeared.
[Woods]: I eat meat. Fresh vegetables. Drink real coffee. And I still have enough money left to save for tomorrow.
She looked directly at Eridius.
[Woods]: Do you know how ridiculous that sounds in the City?
Silence.
Her voice became quieter.
[Woods]: Most people don't leave this place because they have nowhere better to go.
A beat.
[Woods]: I stay because I finally found somewhere worth coming back to.
The café fell quiet.
Even the customers pretended not to listen.
Woods folded her arms.
[Woods]: So...
She looked him straight in the eyes.
[Woods]: Can't you just... not go?
[Woods]: We already won.
Eridius remained silent for several moments.
Then he smiled.
Small.
Almost apologetic.
[Eridius]: That's exactly why I have to go.
Woods frowned.
[Eridius]: We built all this in a week.
He looked around the café.
The coffee machines.
The customers.
Alexander quietly cleaning glasses behind the counter.
[Eridius]: But this place only exists because everyone stronger than us has decided not to crush it yet.
His smile faded.
[Eridius]: I don't want our future to depend on someone else's mood.
A pause.
[Eridius]: I want us to become strong enough that nobody gets to decide whether we live or die.
He glanced around the café.
The warm lights.
The smell of fresh coffee.
The quiet conversations fill the room.
A place they had built with their own hands.
Then he sighed.
[Eridius]: Besides...
A faint smile crossed his face.
[Eridius]: This is the City.
[Eridius]: Who's to say some powerhouse won't walk in tomorrow, take one sip of coffee, decide they don't like the flavor...
A beat.
[Eridius]: ...and turn this entire building into a pile of rubble.
Silence.
Nobody laughed.
Because everyone in the café knew he wasn't exaggerating.
That was a perfectly believable way for a business to disappear in the City.
Alexander gave a quiet nod.
He understood.
Woods lowered her head.
She hated hearing it.
But she couldn't argue.
She had seen enough of the City to know he was right.
Eridius reached over and lifted the Red Iron Greatsword onto his shoulder.
The familiar weight settled comfortably in his hands.
Then a grin slowly returned to his face.
[Eridius]: Besides...
He looked around at everyone in the café.
[Eridius]: Someone has to keep paying for all those free pretzels.
For a heartbeat, the room stayed quiet.
Then a customer near the window raised his coffee cup.
[Customer]: Fair enough.
Another customer laughed.
[Customer 2]: Just make sure you come back before happy hour.
The tension dissolved almost instantly.
Someone chuckled.
Another returned to their coffee.
Within moments, the café was alive with conversation again, as though death had merely stopped by for a quick visit before deciding to come back another day.
Because that, more than anything else, was what it meant to live in the City.
[Chapter end]
[Author's Note]
[Hello everyone, I'm finally free... or at least free enough to start writing again.
The good news is that our branch wasn't shut down. The bad news is that we lost this year's performance bonus. Considering everything that happened, though, I'd say we got off relatively lightly.
To be honest, we barely managed to finish even half of the workload that was expected of us. It was one of the busiest and most exhausting periods I've experienced at work, and by the end of it, everyone in the office looked like they hadn't slept in weeks.
Still, it's finally over, and I can start dedicating my free time to writing again.
Thank you all for your patience while I was away. I really appreciate everyone who stuck around despite the slow updates. Hopefully, things will return to normal from here on, and I can get back to releasing chapters more consistently.
Now then, enough about work—let's get back to the story.]